Ethics as a Business Process

Overview: What is Ethics? This is a slippery issue, especially for business folks trying not to “harass” employees, or to force “moral” values upon them that might be contrary to their own culture. So this is a very difficult topic to discuss openly. This is a timely subject based on the news headlines and the questions employees, customers, and investors are all asking our corporate leaders. And it is time for a hard look at the definition of ethics, and come up with a way to discuss this in our business communities. Here is a proposed definition: Ethics is the process whereby we choose between competing moral and/or economic values. Ethics is a process, and it can be a business process, but it isn't a business process alone, segregated from the rest of our existence. There is, finally, only ethics as a process whereby we choose between competing moral values. We cannot separate this process from our personal and business lives. Article offer as a thesis that we cannot be ethical in one and unethical in the other and say that we are ethical - that is, have thought about, understand, and consistently apply our decision making process.

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Format: HTML | Date: Sep 2002 | Pages: 1